Articles by Alex Rikleen

On the final day of the preseason, when 15 games were played, Ezekiel Elliott still took center stage. Earlier in the day, it was revealed that NFL’s director of investigations had recommended no suspension for Elliott after completing her investigation. Hours later, the NFL Players Association filed a temporary restraining order asking the courts to nullify any punishment the appeals arbitration process might assign. Either of these two developments could lead to the removal of Elliott’s suspension.

After raving about DaVante Parker as a “faster Alshon Jeffrey”, new Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler connected with Parker for 78 yards on two completions. Cutler is looking good, and he’s excited about Parker. Parker’s value is about to skyrocket.

There were plenty of developments on the field Thursday night, but the biggest news of the day involved arguably fantasy’s biggest star: Le’Veon Bell. Bell will return to action before week one, according to ESPN. Bell has not yet signed his franchise tender, and while everyone expected him to return before the start of the season, managers who already drafted him inside the top two are sleeping easier tonight following this update. He has not been with the Steelers yet this preseason, and there is still no indication of when, exactly, he will return.

It was a busy night in the NFL, with seven games on the slate. The biggest news, however, came off the field, with reports from Pro Football Talk that a suspension for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was now expected. The length of the suspension has yet to be announced, but one league source described the impending suspension as “definite”. Elliot is widely considered a top-3 running back, and his current ADP places him securely in the top half of the first round of most drafts.

For about 24 hours, buzz around the NFL world was that Colin Kaepernick may finally find a landing spot in Baltimore. As soon as Wednesday’s report that Joe Flacco (back) would miss several weeks came out, Kaepernick was floated as a possible option. On Thursday, however, the Ravens went a different direction, signing QB David Olson. Olson played for Raven’s coach John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, at Stanford before transferring to Clemson. Olson threw only three passes during his college career. Olson’s signing does not necessarily rule out a Kaepernick deal, though the former does seem to decrease the likelihood of the latter. Thursday’s signing is sure to increase the speculation that Kaepernick, who led his team to a Super Bowl in 2013, is being “blackballed” as a result of his political protests last season. It remains possible that Flacco will miss regular season games, so there is some value in whoever secures the lead backup role.

Garrett joins a Browns defense that was terrible in 2016. They ranked second to last in yards allowed and rush yards allowed, and third to last in points allowed. They also recorded the third-fewest sacks. Not only was Garrett widely considered to be the best overall prospect in this draft, but he also fills one of the Browns’ biggest needs. He is a pass-rushing end who is skilled at getting to the quarterback – he recorded 8.5 sacks in just 11 games as a junior.

I use the Trust Tracker to publicly track the usefulness – or lack thereof – of the recommendations I made in my most recent Daily Games Cheat Sheet article.
For a more detailed introduction, check out my first and second posts here and here

Players are measured according to their p/K (points per thousand dollars spent). Depending on their p/K and the approximate number of points needed to win a 50-50 league that night, players are rated as either “helpful”, “competitive,” or “harmful.”